08/12, 9:15pm

Analyst on Apple and Dell

Apple's struggle for marketshare is most often thought of as a fight against the entire 95% of Windows computer sales - as much an ideological battle as an attempt to claim a larger portion of the OS market. At least one analyst, however, believes that OS X is mainly useful to Apple as a means to the company's true end: defeating Dell in hardware sales. Controversial analyst Rob Enderle observes that Apple is less openly confrontational regarding Windows whenever it advertises the Mac in public, even as it gets press for challenging its rival at events like WWDC. Apple's tactic in the era of Intel-based Macs is not to overthrow Windows, but to offer a software advantage over companies like Dell (who are forced to bundle third-party software for the same features). Read about Microsoft's unwitting role in Apple strategy after the jump.